Chapter 172: Chapter 171: Smooth Start
Fang Zheng and Miss Nanali naturally did not know what Kuliya was up to; they simply watched as the young girl hurried off and then just as hurriedly returned with an old man. Seeing the elder before them, Nanali instantly became nervous.
Hearing Nanali speak, Fang Zheng could not help but take a closer look at the elder before him. Indeed, the old man seemed dignified from his appearance, but he himself did not possess much powerful strength, looking neither like a warrior nor a mage. However, Fang Zheng had only glanced at the man when he felt as if his eyes were about to go blind.
Simply put, the magic aura bursting forth from the old man was too dazzling.
How many high-tier magic artifacts was he wearing? A true magnate was indeed blinding to look upon.
If Fang Zheng were to cast a magic detection spell on the elder right now, he might well turn into a second sun.
“Hello, Nanali, it’s been a long time.”
Like all those in high positions, the elder greeted Nanali with a warm smile and without a hint of pretense; then, he began to closely inspect everything around him. He walked from one end of the greenhouse to the other, carefully examining the crops before him. He even reached out to pinch the Tachibana Fruit’s fruit and leaves, and grabbed a handful of soil to study closely.
After a good while, the elder finally stood up, nodded in satisfaction.
“Quite an impressive idea. Yes, many people think that alchemists seek the ultimate in mysteries, but in fact, we want to change the world, and sometimes we don’t need such powerful spells… You’ve done very well, Nanali.”
Upon saying this, the elder looked at Nanali again and smiled.
“I know about some of your matters, and I am glad to see the change in you. Don’t think that inventions made from materials like Slime are insignificant; in fact, the more ordinary the material, the more it tests an alchemist’s strength. Anyone can use dragon blood to create a brute force potion, which isn’t remarkable. But if you could make it with strong mushrooms, that would be real skill. At least from what I can see now, I think your inventions are mature and very useful.”
“Thank you, Master President!”
Hearing the elder’s praise, Nanali’s face flushed with excitement; she was very aware of the elder’s status, and honestly, Nanali had never imagined receiving such high praise from him.
“So, can you tell me how you came up with these ideas?”
Upon hearing the elder’s inquiry, Nanali looked somewhat conflicted, but after hesitating, she decided to tell the truth.
“Actually, Master President… it was Mr. Ezio and Miss Nymph who suggested these to me; I was just responsible for carrying out these tasks. In fact, at first, I didn’t expect such good results…”
Surprised by Nanali’s response, the elder looked up at Fang Zheng and the blue-haired Little Angel by his side.
“Are these two also alchemists?”
“We are not alchemists.”
In response to the elder’s question, Fang Zheng shook his head.
“Actually, we should say we are both relatives and employers of Miss Nanali… Well, we hope to engage in some business and sales here, and since we have some minor acquaintance with Miss Nanali, we decided to invest here, wanting to depend on Miss Nanali’s alchemy to carry out some alchemy-related trade.”
When it came to making up stories, Fang Zheng’s skills were at least LV5. At least he could say so with straight face, whether others believed him or not was not his problem.
Hearing Fang Zheng’s reply, the elder nodded with understanding and did not say much more. Just like in Fang Zheng’s world, where many companies would invest in laboratories, in this world, businessmen investing in alchemists was nothing new. In fact, many inventions within the Alchemists’ Association stemmed from similar investment-driven research.
However, despite this, the elder still looked meaningfully at Fang Zheng for a while; generally, businessmen did not have such capabilities. They might come up with many ideas, but turning those ideas into reality was not so simple.
According to what Nanali had said, this young man not only provided novel ideas but even suggested the materials, whereas all Nanali did was process them using alchemy skills. If that was the case, then the core of these inventions lay not with Nanali but with the young man before him.
“My name is Ezio, Ezio Auditore.”
“Mr. Ezio, your ingenious ideas are indeed interesting… Well, from what I see now, I think they are of great value… May I ask what you plan to do next?”
Since it was a matter of business, Fang Zheng was not about to waste the opportunity.
“Actually, the greenhouse and Slime Fertilizer are just the first step; once the timing is right, I plan to research soilless cultivation techniques…”
Upon hearing this, the old man’s eyes widened in surprise. The concept was easy to understand, which was exactly why he couldn’t believe his own ears.
“You mean you want to research a technology that grows crops without soil? Is that even possible?”
“Of course it is possible, but as for the specifics… please allow me to keep some suspense.”
Fang Zheng had only thought of this after confirming that slime fertilizer could accelerate crop growth. Although hydroponics itself is a precise skill, with Miss Nymph and Miss Nanali around, plus the slime fertilizer, creating a nutrient solution for hydroponics wasn’t difficult.
But this was based on one condition: that there was nothing wrong with the slime fertilizer itself.
Otherwise, Fang Zheng’s plan would totally fall through.
Seeing her grandfather chatting here with someone else, Kuliya, who had been impatiently waiting on the side, quickly called out. Hearing his granddaughter’s voice, the old man chuckled.
“Alright, alright, I know… okay, leave it to me.”
While saying this, the old man took out a small box from his pocket, which made Fang Zheng frown as he saw it.
“Hehehe, to my embarrassment, I came here mainly because my adorable granddaughter asked me to check the composition of these fruits… Well, although in my mind there’s nothing wrong with these Tachibana fruits, it is still necessary to check them anyway.”
As he spoke, the old man opened the box, and right away, Fang Zheng and the others saw a sphere of pure water emerge and then transform into a bird-like creature, landing on the old man’s shoulder.
Seeing this, Fang Zheng slightly squinted his eyes. As a mage specializing in spellcraft, he certainly knew the prowess of elemental creatures, especially those that could shape themselves, which must be high-tier elemental creatures. What surprised Fang Zheng was, unlike mages who summoned through the Elemental Plane, someone could actually possess such a high-tier elemental creature?
It seemed alchemists were indeed not an easy opponent to deal with.
And looking at the water bird, Nanali asked curiously. Hearing her friend’s query, Kuliya puffed out her chest, which was almost non-existent.
“This is Grandpa’s most powerful companion, don’t underestimate it. It can break down the elements of any food and determine their value. If there is anything dangerous or harmful about these Tachibana fruits, it can detect that too?”
Hearing this, Fang Zheng’s eyes brightened. The reason he was cautious about experimenting was because he knew that even if he said everything was fine, others wouldn’t believe him. After all, if you don’t obtain real and reliable data through repeated experiments, people won’t be reassured. But now, with the endorsement of the president of the Alchemists’ Association, he wouldn’t have to worry about safety issues.
The old man smiled at Nanali and Fang Zheng, then reached out and whispered something to the water bird on his shoulder. Suddenly, the bird, only the size of a sparrow, spread its wings and flew to a Tachibana fruit tree. Then… it suddenly opened its mouth like a snake, swallowing the entire Tachibana tree along with its roots.
Is that even possible?
Seeing this, Fang Zheng’s eyes widened in amazement. Although the Tachibana tree wasn’t as tall as a typical tree, more like a shrub about half a meter high, the water bird was only the size of a sparrow… Could it really do that?
After swallowing the Tachibana tree, the water bird’s body seemed to balloon like a balloon, and Fang Zheng and the others could even clearly see the Tachibana tree it had swallowed. The tree seemed to be immersed in some kind of liquid, then gradually began to decompose into a light green substance, which the bird absorbed.
As the tree was completely broken down, the water bird’s body turned even more emerald green. Seeing this, Fang Zheng twitched the corner of his mouth—this unexpectedly reminded him of a certain green-skinned muscle man… and it was glow-in-the-dark?
Upon thinking again, it seemed that slimes were green too…
Did something go wrong?
At that moment, the old man too widened his eyes in surprise, looking at the emerald green water bird in front of him. He then suddenly turned his head to look at Fang Zheng and Nanali.
“Mr. Ezio, Miss Nanali, your invention is truly amazing!”